At this moment in time, I should be in the air over Taiwan, landing shortly in Taipei before the last leg of a series of flights brings me to Hanoi. Instead, I’m still in Akron, Pennsylvania, in some pain and with three small scars on my abdomen.

On Friday morning I started experiencing sharp abdominal pains that intensified throughout the day, and I checked into the Ephrata Community Hospital at 11pm on Friday night. By 9am the next morning, they had reached a diagnosis of appendicitis, and removed my appendix using a laparoscopic approach. I’m thankful this happened here in the U.S. rather than in the air on my way to Vietnam.

The upswing of all this is that I’ll be spending another week or so recuperating in North America before I fly to Vietnam. My parents are driving down to Akron to pick me up, and I should be in St. Catharines by Monday evening.

I’m disappointed, obviously, but also grateful for everyone who dropped what they were doing to help me, and relieved that this happened in a country where I speak the language and am familiar with the health care system.